Duke Energy works to restore power after two waves of major storms

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PLAINFIELD, IND. - More than 81,000 Duke Energy customers lost power due to two waves of storms that rolled through the state Monday and early Tuesday morning.

Approximately 14,600 remain without power as of early Tuesday afternoon in the hardest hit communities, including Columbus, Madison, Seymour and Franklin.

"We've had back-to-back storms, which have made power restoration challenging," said Howard Fowler, Duke Energy's Midwest storm coordinator. "We were making good progress from the first wave of storms when we got hit by the second wave of violent weather early Tuesday morning."

Crews will be working throughout today and overnight to make repairs and restore power.

"The dangerous storms toppled huge trees and power lines, and the flooding has made it difficult to reach some areas for repairs. In one case we even had to use a boat to reach a trouble spot," Fowler said. "We've moved many of our Duke Energy crews to the areas with the most damage, and we've also supplemented our work force with additional contract crews."

Estimated times of power restoration

Many customers will be restored to power sooner than the following estimates; these are projections for completing power restoration. Some isolated outages will remain for customers who could not receive service due to structural damage at their homes or businesses.

Columbus

midnight Wednesday

Franklin

midnight Tuesday

Madison

midnight Tuesday

Martinsville

6 p.m. Tuesday

Seymour

midnight Tuesday

Fowler thanked customers for their patience and urged caution around downed power lines. Anyone who sees a downed line should assume it is energized, avoid it and contact Duke Energy. Downed lines and power outages can be reported through Duke Energy's automated outage-reporting system: 800-343.3525.

Restoring power after a storm can be challenging. Before power can be restored, crews first assess damage and determine which crews, equipment and supplies will be needed to make repairs. Because of this, customers may see Duke Energy damage assessors patrolling their neighborhoods before company repair crews arrive to begin the actual work.

Crews prioritize work to ensure the largest number of customers are restored as quickly as possible. Essential locations such as hospitals and emergency response facilities have priority.

If you lose power, please turn off as many appliances and electronics as possible. This will help with restoration efforts as it will reduce the immediate demand on the power lines when power is restored.

Once your power is restored, wait a few minutes before turning equipment back on. 